Raymond Gary, 85, Former Oklahoma Governor

Published: December 13, 1993

MADILL, Okla., Dec. 12—
Raymond D. Gary, a former Oklahoma Governor who helped ease the integration of state schools, died on Saturday at a hospital here. He was 85 and lived in Madill.

Mr. Gary died of congestive heart failure, said his former spokesman, Martin Hauan.

A Democrat, Mr. Gary was the first Oklahoma Governor to be born in Oklahoma. He was inaugurated as the state's 15th governor on Jan. 10, 1955.

One of his first actions was to order the "whites only" and "colored only" signs removed from the Capitol's restrooms.

He also declared his intent to make the state comply with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in the public schools unconstitutional.

In a statewide radio address, he said: "I feel sure that defiance of the Supreme Court mandate will not be tolerated. School boards which might entertain such ideas will find themselves on their own. Certainly the State of Oklahoma cannot possibly defend such action."

As part of his effort, he won passage of an amendment to the state Constitution that discarded the financing of separate schools for whites and blacks.

"He led the state through the initial integration era and successfully integrated our schools without any of the violence and complications that erupted in many of the Southern states," said former Gov. Henry Bellmon, a two-term Republican.

State law in the 1950's prevented governors from succeeding themselves, and Mr. Gary returned to his oil and cattle business when his term ending. In the 1960's he ran unsuccessfully for a second term and for the United States Senate.

Raymond Dancel Gary was born on a farm between Madill and Kingston on Jan. 21, 1908, a year after Oklahoma gained statehood. Before he was elected Governor, he spent five years as a teacher, four years as a county Superintendent of Schools and 14 years as a State Senator.